18+ Pros and Cons of Cashew Nuts (Explained)

If you love cashews for their delicious buttery taste or cherish it as evening snacks, there is more to love here. 

Cashews are rich in proteins and all different types of vitamins, minerals, and micro-nutrients. 

They also have a significant amount of copper and magnesium, which are highly required by the body on a daily basis. 

But then, it also contains high sodium content, which can cause health issues, especially if you don’t eat cashews in moderation. 

If you are considering putting it in your diet and wondering about its pros and cons, here are all the advantages and disadvantages of cashew nuts. 

Also, don’t forget to go through the nutrition breakdown of the cashews and see where they can fit into your diet plan or just regular routine.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Cashew Nuts

Advantages of Cashew Nuts	Disadvantages of Cashew Nuts
1. Nutritional Value: Cashew nuts provide essential vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats.	1. High in Calories: Cashews are calorie-dense and should be consumed in moderation.
2. Heart Health: Cashews support heart health due to their monounsaturated fats and antioxidants.	2. Allergy Potential: Some individuals may have allergies to cashew nuts.
3. Weight Management: Cashews, despite being calorie-dense, can be part of a balanced diet for weight management.	3. Cost: Cashews can be relatively expensive compared to other nuts.
4. Digestive Health: Cashews contribute to healthy digestion and a nourishing gut.	4. Oxalate Content: Cashews contain oxalates, which may contribute to kidney stone formation.
5. Blood Sugar Control: Cashews have a low glycemic index, aiding in blood sugar regulation.	5. Limited Availability: Cashew nuts may have limited accessibility in certain areas.

👍 Pros Of Eating Cashew Nuts 

As a wholesome and adaptable food, cashew nuts provide a number of advantages. They are a good source of antioxidants, critical nutrients, heart health, weight management, digestive assistance, and blood sugar regulation.

There are several ways to enjoy cashews, which also help maintain bone health and provide you with an instant energy boost. However, moderation is crucial, and specific dietary considerations must be made.

🥜 Most Convenient High Source Of Protein 

The cashew is one of the high sources of good-quality protein where you will get 18 gms of protein on consuming every 100g of cashew. 

But More than that, it is also the most convenient source of protein to eat anytime you want. 

Eating it as a quick snack is easy whenever your energy levels drop, or you feel unsatiated. 

Cashews are also very easy to carry. You can just have plenty of them in a pouch, small container, or small bag. 

You would want it to be contained well in an air-tight bag or container, as it will die if left out in the everyday environment. 

Cashews are also great in bringing different varieties of snacks which can be sweet, salty, tangy, or spicy. 

You must mix the right spices or mixture while lightly frying it. So, there are multiple flavoring options as well. 

❤️ It Contains Mono-saturated fats that protect your heart 

Cashews are known to be a powerhouse of energy and protein without too much fat. 

In fact, Cashews are naturally found to have lower fat content than most of the other nuts where you see a high or moderate level of fat content. 

But that’s not all, even whatever fat content it has, they are mono-saturated, which is relatively healthy for your heart. 

It is kind of the same fat that you find in cold-pressed olive oil. So, cashews are not unhealthy for your heart. 

Cashews are an excellent companion food with a low-fat diet that will also help reduce triglycerides.

Lowering the triglycerides helps ease the pressure in your blood vessels and your heart activity. 

This also means that cashews are good in controlling diabetes and still can be your go-to heart-friendly healthy snack. 

🥜 Cashews Are Packed With Nutrients, Minerals, and Vitamins

To really understand how nutritious cashews are, you need to break down their nutritious value, including vitamins and minerals. 

Here is what you get in 30 gms of cashews which is only 15 to 17 cashews : 

• 83 mg of Magnesium 
• 600 mg of Copper 
• 10 mg of Calcium
• 1.9 mg of Iron
• 187 mg of Potassium

Also, it has micronutrients and other elements that cover up a certain percentage of your daily dose required in your body : 

• 10% of the daily dose of Selenium
• 7% of the daily dose of Vitamin B6
• 10% of the daily dose of Thiamine 
• 8% of the daily dose of Vitamin K

💪🏻 Cashews Are High In Antioxidants 

The human body has free radicals, which are compounds that intend to harm your body or become harmful at elevated levels. 

It is something that can lead to multiple diseases. The enemy of free radicals is antioxidants. 

Antioxidants are suitable for your body. They are the molecules that help you eradicate free radicals in your body. 

Cashews have an abundance of antioxidants, and there it is highly beneficial for your body to fight against free radicals in your body. 

Not just that, it overall makes the psychological condition of your entire system stable and robust.  

This helps your body attain moderate blood glucose levels, better heart health, and even reduces cancer risk. 

Cashews Have a Low Glycemic Index (GI)

Apart from the Chestnuts, only Cashew the nut with enough carbohydrate content to enter on the GI scale. 

If you look at the GI scale, you will find Cashews have a pretty low GI rating, around 26. 

When you mix Cashews, a food that rates low on the GI scale, with other food that rates high on the GI scale, it helps to slow the digestion of the overall food you eat. 

How can this be good? Well, slower digestion clearly means you will be less hungry and feel more satiated. 

More importantly, this helps you achieve excellent appetite control and manage the glucose level in the case of type 2 diabetes. 

It slows the rise in your glucose level that happens after meal consumption. 

Overall, cashews are also known to be helping in weight management. So if you want to lose or manage your weight, moderate cashew consumption is your ally. 

Eating Cashews Reduces The Risk Of Gallstones 

According to a study conducted at Harvard, it is stated that some nuts like Cashews lower the risk of gallstone formation in your body by up to 30%

The good fat of the cashews lowers the cholesterol and manages the cholesterol level in the bile. 

Then, high fiber in cashews further reduces the requirement for bile acids for circulation, lowering the building up of gallstone. 

Cashews Are The Excellent Source of Copper

Your body needs copper as it plays a crucial role in an extensive range of physiological conditions and processes goes around. 

These processes include the removal of free radicals in your body, blood and connective tissue development, skin development, hair pigmentation, and more. 

If your body goes copper-deficient, you can face multiple health problems, such as joint issues, brittle bones, heart irregularities, anemia, osteoporosis, and infection vulnerability. 

Doctors recommend 900 micrograms of copper daily for an adult, whereas only 15 to 17 cashews of approximately 30gm weight will give you 600 micrograms of copper. 

So only a handful of cashews single-handedly can resolve your copper requirements for the body.

You Get So Much Variety To Consume It 

Cashews are delicious just as they are, even if you don’t fry, saute or flavor it at all. 

But they certainly have so much variety and options in a way you can consume, whether you prefer sweet, spicy, tangy, or salty. 

You can turn it into oil or crush it and mix it with water to make cashew milk so delicious. 

Cashews can also be used to create sweets further using cashew butter which is also made of cashews. 

Not to forget how tasty it becomes to mix it with chocolate and put it in smoothies, cakes, pudding, biscuits, and cookies. 

If that isn’t enough for you, there are hundreds of recipes to make dishes using cashews, you can try those too. 

👎 Cons of Eating Cashew Nuts 

Cashew nut allergies among some people may necessitate vigilance. If ingested in excess, their high-calorie content might lead to weight gain.

Oxalates may enhance the chance of kidney stone formation in those who are predisposed to it. Accessibility may also be impacted by low availability and more excellent price for some people.

It’s crucial to be aware of these things and take cashew nuts in moderation while considering personal circumstances.

Cashews Contains High Sodium Content 

Sodium, also known as Salt, negatively affects heart health when consumed more than required. 

It basically increases the blood pressure that, results in fluid retention, increasing the chances of having a stroke. 

Taking 30 gms of cashews contains 3 mg of sodium, whereas the recommended daily dose suggested is 1,500 mg. 

So this might not sound too bad, but you also have to consider how much sodium you are already intaking from other meals and food consumed that day. 

On top of that, eating more cashews can increase your sodium level. Moderation can certainly help here, or at least you can try not to have fried salty cashews. 

🤧 Cashews Can Cause Allergies 

Nut allergies are pretty standard; hence, cashews that might not have all the traits of tree nuts still present the scenarios of allergy risks. 

So if someone has allergies to nuts like peanuts or any other tree nuts, cashews can cause serious problems. 

Even someone with pre-existing legume allergy needs to be careful with intaking Cashews. 

You must be very careful before you intake cashews, especially if you haven’t tried it yet due to your nut allergy. 

It is highly recommended to consult a doctor for severe allergies. 

Cashew Interfere With Medication 

Vitamin K is found to be high in Cashews, which often interferes with the anticoagulant effects of a compound found in medications also known to be blood thinner. 

Cashews are also high in magnesium, so anyone taking their medication for high blood pressure might have different impacts as they interfere due to cashews.

The same can happen with diabetes medication, where the cashew can cause problems and create trouble in the effect of the medicine. 

Cashew Increases Migraine Activity 

If you research this, you would find a contradiction in this idea as there are two schools of thought on it. 

The first one states that due to the availability of high levels of copper, selenium, zinc, and magnesium, cashew can help reduce the severity and frequency of migraines. 

The second school of thought completely contradicts it saying that people who are allergic or have hypersensitivity to nuts seem to find their migraine severity increased. 

So it can be damaging in some cases while won’t be in others. But primarily due to its capability to increase the severity of migraine activity, it is safe to count it as a disadvantage. 

Cashew Is Poisonous in a raw state 

This is not a direct disadvantage of Cashews, as the poisonous character is only seen in its raw form, not in the form it Reaches you to eat. 

But the effect has been seen in the manufacturing of cashews, in the farming and harvesting processes, it releases caustic acid that can burn the skin while shelled. 

So, raw cashews are unsafe to touch without care and far from eating. It is only when it is shelled and the toxin present in its shell known as urushiol, similar to poison ivy, that it becomes safer to move further into the process. 

Even after that, it is streamed and well-processed to make it edible. 

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